Asana Column: Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head-to-Knee Pose)

Tap into pelvic power.

By Aadil Palkhivala

Now, as I teach, I no longer ask students to make the performance of the postures their primary focus in yoga. Instead, I ask them to discover, explore, grasp, and then lift the awesome power of the pelvis into the heart center, giving the heart attention, energy, and nourishment. As they work in the poses, I also teach them techniques to help them enlist the intellectual, analytical abilities of the brain in the inner quest that takes place within the heart.

Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head-to-Knee Pose) is an excellent way to learn this heart-centered approach, because performing the pose with elegance and openness requires you to discover and harbor the power inside the pelvis, to lift that power into the heart center, and to open the chest in a wide, resplendent expression of the heart's inner luminosity.

Pelvic Power

Tapping into pelvic power isn't unique to yoga; it is cultivated in the martial arts as well, where it is used for movement, stability, and self-defense. My approach is a bit different, however: I teach students to live the yogic life by having them move pelvic power up to the heart center and then having them ask the heart to guide them toward this power's highest use.

To lift the pelvic energy into the heart center in Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana, it is critical to begin the process before entering the full pose. If you move into full Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana without first lifting the pelvic energy, the muscles of the lower belly and perineum will be in such strong extension that you will not be able to completely engage this crucial power source.

Lifting the energy of the pelvis requires two types of actions, the first physical and the second pranic (involving subtle energies). In Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana, as in all seated poses, the physical actions include pressing the sitting bones into the earth and lifting the pelvic floor upward by contracting the perineal muscles to create Mula Bandha (Root Lock). Additionally, you must lift the pit of the abdomen and then build on all of these actions by widening the diaphragm, opening the chest, and moving the shoulder blades down and apart. As you draw the pit of the abdomen upward, you should take care not to hold your breath or tighten your belly; lifting the pit of the abdomen is a soft action that moves the front of your belly toward your chest, not toward your back.

To develop and refine this action, come into Upavistha Konasana (Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend), sitting upright with your legs spread to about a 135-degree angle. Bring your mind into the four corners of the diamond shape anchored by the two sitting bones, the pubis, and the coccyx (tailbone). Let the sitting bones descend while the coccyx and the pubis also gently move down toward the earth and then toward each other, their energies meeting at the perineum. Then, from deep in your core, lift this concentrated energy upward. You will know you are doing this properly when you feel the bowl of the pelvic bones widening and descending and the contents of the pelvis (the abdominal organs) ascending. The lift of the pit of the abdomen should create an internal sense of strength, upward movement, and erectness in your torso.

Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

See All Asana Columns Articles »